Wireless network resources are deployed for public safety applications. First responders and other public safety individuals (“users”) can be equipped with a mobile device that is configured to communicate with public safety networks as well as other networks (such as commercial networks, private networks, etc.). There are numerous questions associated with mobile device usage on the public safety networks and/or the commercial networks, private networks, etc. For example, how might a public safety mobile device be homed on a national or regional agency network and roam to another network with minimal hardware impact? How might a public safety mobile device be homed on a national or regional agency network and on another network (dual home device) simultaneously without roaming or without substantial device or network impacts? How device policy might be enabled, and deployed to facilitate changing from, for example, private to non-private bands? For example, device policy scope can include Quality of Service (QoS), security, application usage, device management, etc.
When a mobile device migrates to a different network, or a different agency in the same network, such as when a user is collaborating in a mutual aid or disaster scenario, access to new or updated applications (“apps”) may be required. This can include an associated upload and/or configuration of that user's mobile device to use the new applications, new security credentials for those apps (in the back end), or there may be a need to collaborate with a different workgroup or set of individuals, or interoperate with specific Land Mobile Radio (LMR) talk groups, then during normal operations.
Today, a device would require user or administrator-driven provisioning change for a fully interoperable environment. There is a need to do this in a dynamic and automated way. It is envisioned in a national or regional agency environment that there may be three distinct points of control for a device image: national, agency/jurisdictional, and local incident related. In the local case, an incident commander may be making application and configuration choices in real time that he/she wants to distribute to the target responder group instantly without going up the national or agency level governance chain.
Thus, there is a need to correlate profile changes across devices (including bring-your-own-device (BYOD)) and across operating systems (OSs). Today's process is prone to human error, significant delay and complexity when time and reliability are critical for users.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus to manage user/device profiles dynamically in public safety applications or the like.
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The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.